This invention relates to an improved connector provided with a short-circuit terminal for short-circuiting open terminals connected to an operating device so that current may not accidentally flow into the operating device when the fitting between male and female connector housings is released.
Air bags have been increasingly used for protecting passengers against the impact of a car crash. An operating circuit for such an air bag is formed by connecting terminals connected to an igniter for a gas-generating agent to terminals connected to a power source via an impact sensor. When an impact sensor detects a car collision, current flows to the igniter to ignite the gas-generating agent to produce a large amount of gas, thereby inflating the air bag.
Although the air bag needs to be positively operated in the event of a collision, the air bag must be prevented from being erroneously operated when there is no collision. For example, the connection between the connectors can be released during the installation of the air bag and during inspection. At these times, terminals within an air bag-side connector housing become open. However, there is a risk that a magnetic field or an electric field produced around the open terminals could induce a voltage to develop between the open terminals so that current could flow into the igniter of the air bag, thus causing the above-mentioned erroneous operation.
In the conventional connector, when the two connector housings are to be fitted together, an insulating plate is thrusted into two contact portions between a short-circuit terminal and a pair of terminals. In order to push together the connector housings of the conventional connectors, it is necessary to overcome a large frictional resistance associated with the insulating plate in addition to the already existing frictional resistance required to be overcome when connecting the terminals of the two. housings together. Therefore, conventional connectors have encountered a drawback that a large manipulation force is required for the insertion and withdrawal of one housing relative to the other, thus providing difficult operability. Moreover, since a large load must be overcome when the housings are to be fitted together, there is a possibility that the housings are inadvertently retained in an incompletely-fitted condition, and in such a case, there is a risk that an incomplete connection between the corresponding terminals may be encountered, thus failing to achieve a proper electrical connection.
The above disadvantages may arise not only in the connector for an air bag, but also in those connectors with a short-circuit terminal for other applications.